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How far in advance can I bake Christmas cookies?

Recipes & Food / 7:51 AM - Monday November 23, 2009

How far in advance can I bake Christmas cookies?

I'd like to give Christmas cookies as a small Christmas remembrance to many. How far in advance can I bake them and how can they be stored for maximum freshness? I usually bake butter cookies, chocolate chips and pizzelles.

Update: November 30, 2009.Thank you for your help in answering my question. I've never had enough leisure time to be ahead of the game. I think I was still pulling cookies out of the oven on Christmas morning. Have a happy holiday!

Your butter content in the cookie is the answer. After time butter turns rancid. So butter cookies have a shorter shelf life than a chocolate chip cookie. So the cookies that you mentioned have varied freshness. The BAKED chocolate chip will probably stay fresh for about two weeks in an air tight container. The butter cookies, for about a week and the pizzelles only stay fresh for a few days.

So if you want to get some work done before you are ready to deliver the cookies, what you can do is make the batter and freeze it. Then the hard work is done, and when you are ready to bake, they will be fresh from the oven. Except for the pizzelles, I would make that fresh.